Improvement in breech-loading ordnance



W. B. TREADWELL. y Bannon Lomme onnmnon.

, MWF.

BEST AVAlLABLE COPY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

w. B. TEEADWELL, 0F" ALBANY, NEW YORK.

lMPROVnEMENTfIN BR EE QHLOADING ORDNANCE.

Specication forming part of Letbters Patent N.'535,-637, dated June 17, 1862.

.To au whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W. B. TREADWELL, of Albany, in the State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Cannon; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying-drawing, and'to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, A represents the gun, which is bored throughfrom end to end. The breech pin B is made a semi-hemisphere, and may be provided with a projection from the center of its circle inward one or twoinches, more or less; of the size to t the regular bore of the gun. The breech-pin may be made of iron or of ,some composition metal. It may behung by a hinge, so that when withdrawn it may drop down out of the way. It maybe covered with a cap of wrought-iron a little larger than the breech-pin and attached to it,and th hinge may be formed-in the lower part of this wrought-iron cap and adjoined to the gun here. n the sides of the gun', at the breech, projections running parallel are to be cast, and these may be enlarged and extended back of the breech pin or gun proper twenty or thirty inches, more or less. These projections are strapped and. tied together with wrought-iron, and those parts which extend lback -may or may notbe entirely of wrought-iron. To secure the breech-pin in its place I make a wrought-iron bail, D forman arch withV its outer circum erence pressed tightly against the cap-or breechpin,

with'its abutments or the sides of the.projeo tions or stubs and held there by journals or gudgeons passing through the sides, and upon these gudgeons the bail is moved forward and backward. A screw is put through the center of the arch of the bail, which 1s designed to hold it, the cap, and the breech-pin, in their places. The head of the screw maybe formed into a ring sufficiently large to allow the swab to pass through it' or a smaller rin may be formed in the hea of the screw an allowed to-drop out of the way. The breechpin may be covered with a cap formed on a spherical angle. This cap may be made of iron -or brass and attached to the lower part of the gun by a hinge, so that when with-l drawn it will drop out of the way; or the wise,

breech-pin and cap may-be'formed in one piece, and covered with a cap of wrought-iron and attached to it, and these together hung by means of a short rod to ahook or some projection from the upper part of the gun. 'lhus attach ed, the breech-pin and caps united can be easily withdrawn and swung out of the way. 0n guns of large caliber, where the breech-pins are too heavy to be removed otherleverage may be applied to assist in swinging 'them (the breech-pins) out of the way. .The lever used can be so arranged that it can readily beunshipped when notrequired, leaving the top of the gun entirely free from all obstruction. W'ays or grooves may be formed upon the inside of the parallel projections, by means of which a separate breech lhade of steel, brass, or iron may be guided into the rear end of the gun and fastened there by a bail in the same manner as the breech-pin is fastened heretofore described. Caps can be formed on t-he top or bottom of these projections, into which. movable boxes may be put, and into which movable boxes a cross-head may work.

The breech-pin may be attached to and revolv'e on the cross-head, which will be so constructed that the breech-pin can be thrown u pward or'downward ont of the way.

A represents the body of the gun; EE, the trunnions; B, the breech-pin. D represents the bail. a represents the pin which is secured to the bailand whichpresses against the rear of the breech-pin. o o represent the projections on each side of the breech, to which the bail D is secured.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by .Letters Patent, is-

The employment of the gun with concave breech in connection with the convex breechpiece, the bail D, and the projecting pieces C C, the several parts being constructed and operating in the manner and for the' purpose herein set forth.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my ha'nd in the presence of witnesses.

w. B. TREADWELL. Witnesses:

JNO, G. TREADWELL, ANDREW DrcxEY. 

